The Shutdown's Heavy Toll & The Old Kentucky Home

Washington, D.C. bakery owner Yael Krigman (left)
with WABC-7 meteorologist Eileen Whelan

On the Friday, January 18th edition of the PBS Newshour, I watched national correspondent Lisa Desjardins' segment examining the human toll of the Trump - McConnell government showdown; which is now the longest in American history.

The segment focused on the Washington, D.C. area which is home to thousands of federal workers and federal contractors; including a security guard named De'von Russell and a small business owner named Yael Krigman (pictured left).

They're both staring down the barrel of financial uncertainty thanks to Trump.

At first glance, Krigman and Russell are the kinds of Americans that Republican politicians like to claim they represent - hard-working folks looking to make a better life for themselves and carve out their own little slice of the American dream.

But since Trump has been in office, Republicans have done nothing but screw small businesses, farmers, the middle and working class and the poor, between the trade war with China impacting U.S. farmers, the government shutdown and the massive Republican tax cut - which has caused the federal deficit Republicans whined about incessantly when President Obama was in office to skyrocket*.

*[I tried looking up the Monthly Treasury Report on the Bureau of Fiscal Service website which lists updated deficit numbers - but there's no updated data because the people who get paid to do that aren't doing their jobs because of the Trump - McConnell shutdown.]

As Lisa Desjardins reported, Yael Krigman quit her well-paying job as an attorney to pursue her passion for baking and opened a small Kosher bakery called Baked By Yael across the street from the National Zoo - which normally supplies her and he 17 employees with a steady stream of hungry customers during the day.

Custom "Cake-pops" from Baked By Yael

Thanks to Trump's stubborn refusal to sign legislation intended to reopen the closed portions of the federal government, bills which passed both the House and Senate with bipartisan support weeks ago, the National Zoo remains closed to visitors and foot traffic into Krigman's bakery has dried up.       

By the way her custom "Cake-pops" - balls of baked cake batter attached to a stick and dipped in candy coating - looked so good, I went to her website and ordered some of them to be shipped to me.

Hey I figure it's only right to try and support fellow Americans affected by the shutdown right? And, well, I really love cake.

Check out the Baked By Yael website for yourself.

Lisa Desjardins also visited De'Von Russell as he played with his adorable three-year-old daughter Dejah; if you want to see the PBS segment click this link and scroll to 25 minutes 14 seconds.

Russell works as a security guard for the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History, he loves his job, but he's one of thousands of federal contractors across the country who probably won't be getting back pay for the two weeks he's been furloughed from work.

As Russell said in the interview, he's managed to pay all his bills for the time being, but like many Americans including myself, he lives paycheck to paycheck.

And if the shutdown continues, he and thousands of other Americans are looking at a bleak month ahead with no end in sight simply because of Trump's refusal to act, and Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's refusal to allow legislation that would reopen the government to even come to the floor for a vote.

Just think about that for a moment; is he serving the American people, or a constituency of one?

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and colleagues search
the Capitol for Senator Mitch McConnell 

On Wednesday, Democratic freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a group of her fellow freshman went on a widely-covered search of the Capitol building and Senate offices to try and find and confront Mitch McConnell face-to-face over his refusal to move on reopening the government.

But evidently the elusive senate majority leader was doing his best to hide from AOC and her Democratic posse - if you haven't seen the video of AOC's hunt take a minute to watch the edited highlights.

For those of you who prefer to geek out on the often-arcane workings behind the scene of the House and Senate, Lawrence O'Donnell's 16-minute segment on MSNBC's The Last Word is worth the watch as he offers some deeper historical context on the significance of AOC and her colleagues trying to bring their demands directly to the floor of the male-dominated Senate chamber.

The system is clearly broken when one cowardly senator from Kentucky has the power to keep major portions of the federal government in a protracted shutdown because he's scared of an erratic president having a temper tantrum that could make his angry Kentucky voter base even angrier.

Sadly, that homegrown Kentucky anger was on full display on Friday in Washington, D.C.

As you may have heard by now some students of the all-boys Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills, Kentucky - a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio located in northern Kentucky - are getting a much-needed lesson in the power of social media.

In a video now seen by millions around the world, a group of mostly white Covington Catholic boys along with what appear to be at least some of their parents in the background, are seen mocking, taunting and blocking a group of Native American activists who were in Washington, D.C. to participate in the Indigenous People's March on Friday.

An unnamed Covington Catholic HS student smugly
stares down Omaha tribal elder Nathan Phillips 

The Covington Catholic boys were in the area to attend the anti-abortion March For Life, apparently the group encountered the Native Americans on their way to, or from the march somewhere near what looks to me like the front of the Lincoln Memorial.

Part of what's troubling is the open hostility many of them display towards a group of Native Americans who were there simply singing and drumming - what is it about the Native Americans that sparked the kind of mob mentality seen in the video?

If you've seen the video, quite a few of the Covington Catholic High School boys are wearing Trump's red or white "Make America Great Again" hats, some have Trump sweatshirts on - as if their parents have indoctrinated them into the kind of openly racist, white supremacist belief system that's become the defining element of the Trump presidency.

The one smirking boy in the gray jacket and red MAGA hat in particular (pictured above) who decided to stand defiantly close to Omaha tribal elder Nathan Phillips, a Vietnam veteran, almost looks like he wants to spark a physical confrontation.

In a short video that I saw posted on actress Alyssa Milano's Twitter page, Phillips reflects on the broader history that the boys who taunted him do not even remotely seem to grasp - even as they can be heard chanting "Build that wall" in the background.

Seriously, these kids live in a cushy suburb and attend a private school with a $10,000 per year tuition, what the Hell do any of them need a wall for?

As USA Today and other media outlets have reported, Covington Catholic HS and the Catholic Diocese issued a joint statement condemning the behavior and apologizing for the student's actions; as well as insisting an investigation of what happened will take place.

#WheresMitch has become a popular hashtag
as politicians wonder why the Senator is AWOL 

As in all things, I think the incident needs to be kept in perspective, this is one group of boys and obviously not all white grade-school boys in this country are ignorant Trump sycophants-in-training openly exploring and expressing their bigotry, and flaunting their ignorance in public.

There are millions of white grade school students who consider the behavior of the Covington Catholic High School boys to be reprehensible, I spent quite a bit of time reading social media reaction to the incident, and people of all ages, ethnicities, nationalities and religions are offended by what takes place in that video.


But given that Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell's chief motivation for blocking spending bills that would reopen the federal government seems to be his fear of alienating the pro-Trump voters in his state whose support he will need in the 2020 election, the video of the Covington Catholic HS boys offers troubling insight into the kind of grassroots conservative anger that McConnell fears.

Anger that's hardly unique to Kentucky.

Whatever happens with the government shutdown, or disciplinary actions against the Kentucky students who mocked, taunted and disrespected a Native American elder who served his country in Vietnam, one thing is clear.

The sun is definitely not shining bright on "My Old Kentucky Home" these days.

In fact there's a cloud hanging over it.

Hail Marys From 1600

Rudy Giuliani getting booed in Yankee Stadium

Could White House efforts to try and deflect attention from the mounting evidence surrounding the Trump administration's numerous ties to the Russian government during the 2016 presidential campaign possibly get any more desperate?

Rudy Giuliani's unhinged appearances on network and cable news programs over the past couple weeks haven't exactly boosted Trump's credibility.

Or his own for that matter.

While attending a Yankees game in the Bronx last Monday, Giuliani was loudly booed by a Memorial Day crowd when he was introduced on the PA system as the camera panned about for celebrities in attendance.

The 74-year-old crackpot Trump supporter / lawyer tried to pass the unmistakeable slight off as the Yankee fans showing him "love", but as I've mentioned on this blog before, I lived in New York City for 14 years and have attended dozens of Yankees games over the years.

Just to be clear, when Yanks fans boo you in Yankee Stadium, it ain't love.

Giuliani's efforts to try and undermine special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing investigation have gotten so bizarre, it's actually getting embarrassing for Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Particularly given that mid-term elections, which are clearly shaping up to be a referendum on Trump's first two chaotic years in office, and the divisive, mean-spirited tone of his administration, are now only four months off.

Top Republicans Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and
Trey Gowdy all support the Mueller investigation

In today's social-media-influenced 24/7 news cycle, that's like a two-minute warning in the 4th quarter of a close football game.

For those nervous, legacy-cognizant Republican members of Congress who haven't already announced that they won't seek another term in office (in an effort to avoid the humiliation of being in the same party as Trump) the stakes are high heading into summer.


The week before last, even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other leading Republican members of Congress, including the dependably right-leaning Hillary-basher, Representative Trey Gowdy, publicly stated their firm support for the ongoing investigation being led by special counsel Robert Mueller of intentional interference in the 2016 U.S. elections ordered by Vladimir Putin.

In political terms, that's a pretty revealing indicator of how Republican politicians preparing to face  a fired-up voter base are trying to re-position themselves.

But it's more than that.

For example, obviously I don't agree with a lot of the policy positions of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, but I respect his mastery of the arcane rules of the Senate chamber.

And don't think for a second that he's forgotten Trump's loudmouth support for failed pedophile Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore last fall - who ran on a platform that was partially based on checking the power of the "Republican Washington establishment", calling out McConnell by name repeatedly.

Trump in Nashville telling one of the 35 lies or
factually-misleading statements he told.

Politically-savvy Republicans running for office in November don't want to get caught calling the ongoing investigation into Russian interference a "witch hunt" as Trump has taken to characterizing an investigation that's already filed more than 100 criminal charges against 19 different people and 3 companies.

Five of those indicted have already plead guilty.

As the New York Times reported, "Thirteen are Russians accused of meddling in the 2016 elections."


True to his bombastic nature, Trump's response to members of his own political party publicly supporting the Mueller investigation even as he desperately tries to undermine it, has been predictable.

He took it as a snub from the same mainstream Republicans that he gleefully eviscerated like dead fish during the 2016 campaign and, as he's done consistently when he's getting bludgeoned by the mainstream press and social media, he took to the road Wednesday night.

Heading down south to try and rally his shrinking, but loyal base of support.

As USA Today and other news organizations reported, Trump used an appearance at a "Make America Great Again" rally in Nashville, Tennessee to meander through at least 35 different false or misleading statements on his favorite topics including provably false statements on the Affordable Care Act championed by President Obama, taking credit for wage growth that began under Obama and of course Trump's central theme - irrational immigrant bashing.

Even the local Tennessean.com caught Trump, once again, lying about the size of the crowd there.

His blundering, back-and-forth foreign policy efforts, including on-again, off-again negotiations with North Korea and the announcement of 25% tariffs on imported steel and aluminum from some of America's closest allies - including France, Canada and Mexico - have further fractured already-tenuous relationships with some the country's biggest global trading partners.

To say nothing of the fact that such tariffs will likely increase steel costs for U.S. manufacturers

Dinesh D'Souza being arrested for illegal campaign
contributions back in 2014

Costs which will inevitably translate to higher prices for American consumers.

The tariffs in particular were so reckless, it's possible they were meant to overshadow Trump's decision to help Chinese electronics maker ZTE after the Chinese announced they would invest hundreds of millions in an Indonesian project from which Trump would personally profit.

The ZTE decision even irked Republican politicians in Washington.

And it certainly didn't help that the announcement coincided with China approving additional trademarks for profiteering First Daughter Ivanka Trump, who has shamelessly helped herself - as has her husband Jared Kushner - to unabashed financial feeding at the trough during their questionable tenure in the White House as roving "senior advisers" to their quasi-delusional daddy. 

But unquestionably, Trump's most bizarre effort to rally his right-wing base and deflect from the reality of his disastrous presidency, was his decision to issue a presidential pardon last week to the textbook homophobic bigot Dinesh D'Souza (pictured above).

As an op-ed by the New York Times editorial board on Thursday titled "Dinesh D'Souza? Really?"
noted:

"On Thursday, Mr. Trump pardoned Dinesh D'Souza, the right-wing troll known for, among other things, posting racist tweets about President Barack Obama, spreading the lie that George Soros was a Nazi collaborator and writing that 'the American slave was treated like property, which is to say, pretty well.' "

Trump's decision to pardon D'Souza for funneling $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions to Republican Senate candidate Wendy Long back in 2012 seems intended as yet another petty swipe in Trump's bizarre obsession with President Obama.

Particularly given D'Souza's many racist attacks on Obama over the years, including a widely-panned and unsubstantiated book and calling Obama "boy" on Twitter among other assorted classless, low-rent nonsense.

So it's not surprising that Trump used his executive power to pardon someone like that (Hell, he pardoned ex-Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio), anything to distract from the ongoing disaster that is his presidency.

Another Hail Mary pass lobbed from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue - not to score, but to distract.

Low Bar in D.C.

A dysfunctional galaxy far, far away

Predictability, there's no shortage of political leaders up on Capitol Hill this evening patting themselves on the back.

As journalist Niall Stanage observed in his scorecard for The Hill.com on the fallout from the latest compromise deal to keep the lights on in Washington, members of Congress from both sides of the aisle are finding creative ways to spin this debacle as a victory.

For most Americans it's anything but.

Do the roughly 20 Democratic and Republican senators who met in Washington on Sunday to cobble together the framework for a deal to pass a temporary spending resolution to reopen the government deserve some credit for at least being willing to sit down and (presumably) talk like adults?

Yes, a measure of credit is due when men and women on opposite sides of the political spectrum are able to come together and demonstrate that the legislative branch of the federal government can function in a bipartisan manner to act on behalf of the American people. 

But that's what they're supposed to do, it's why they were elected in the first place - that's their job.

There's no disguising the uncomfortable truth that the fact that they had to be there at all on a Sunday just to keep the basic functions of government running is a pretty poor reflection of the ability of congress to put the good of the country first.     

After a bruising 2016 presidential campaign abetted by a floodgate of dark money that flowed from their conservative billionaire donor base, and overt voter suppression efforts in key battleground states like Ohio, Florida, North Carolina and Wisconsin, Republicans finally got what they've been pining after for years - control of all three branches of the federal government.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and
Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer

But the chaotic, inexperienced narcissist they worked so hard to put into the White House proved to be as politically inept as he is racist.

In fact, last week as the government shutdown loomed, the orange-haired BLOTUS was rendered all but politically-neutered because of his own big mouth.

That's after he partially caused the shutdown by recklessly repealing DACA to score points with his base.

The actual work of keeping the federal government running was left to Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as Trump was essentially rendered irrelevant to negotiations to solve a manufactured crisis - one caused in no small part by his own chaotic buffoonery and total ignorance of how government functions.   

After a year in office, it's remarkable and disturbing that he still doesn't seem to understand that the power of the presidency is wasted when the majority of Americans despise you and disapprove of the job your doing.

With quasi-delusional sycophant advisers like Stephen Miller and Kellyanne Conway surrounding him, Trump still thinks he can lead the country by pandering to the 30-something percent of Americans who support him.

The global condemnation Trump generated dominated the headlines after the bipartisan meeting at the White House that was intended as an opportunity for Republicans and Democrats to hammer out a deal on immigration to avoid the government shutdown imploded when he wondered aloud why DACA protections would be extended to nation's he dismissed as "shithole countries". 

As if that wasn't enough, as the threat of the shutdown loomed closer, reports emerged that porn star Stormy Daniels had been paid $130,000 by Trump's lawyer to keep her from speaking publicly about their years-long affair - this as the #MeToo movement dominates the cultural conversation.

Stunned lawmakers in the White House meeting on
immigration last week realize 45 is a clueless child

So in a situation where a normal president would be using the power of his or her office to put pressure on lawmakers to pass a comprehensive spending bill, Trump was essentially rendered useless.

Because his brand is so toxic and his disapproval rating so high that he was actually more of a political liability to the Republican leadership who'd grown impatient with his constant wavering back and forth on immigration.

So, yeah, this deal got done, but only after a three-day shutdown of the federal government.

And without any help from the guy who campaigned repeatedly on his supposed mastery of what he calls "the art of the deal". 

And as far as deals go, it's not exactly the kind of thing one brags about on one's political resume. 

The spending measure only keeps the government running for three weeks while Democrats and Republicans try and hash out their differences to pass an actual spending bill to properly fund the government for the next fiscal year.

No doubt Trump will use his Twitter account to boast about his signing the compromise measure he had no hand in negotiating, to reopen a government that shutdown on the anniversary of his inauguration.

As thousands of women, men and children across the nation marched to protest his presidency.

But it's a poor reflection of the GOP's ability to govern effectively considering the fact that they control the White House and both chambers of congress.

And it doesn't exactly boost the public's perception of congress either.

Especially considering we're only nine months from the mid-term elections in November and the only thing they've passed is a huge tax cut for the rich and corporations.

None the less, politicians will continue to milk this short-term spending compromise as if they just passed the New Deal; acting as if doing their jobs has become cause for celebration.

When the reality is it's a reflection of just how low the bar has slipped in D.C.

The Big Republican Nothing

People gather at a makeshift memorial in Vegas

Sometimes it almost seems like the Republican leadership that currently controls the House of Representatives lives in some kind of parallel universe.

A kind of nonsensical ideological haven in the middle of a bubble located light years from where most average Americans try to eek out an existence wherever they live, work, retire, or go to school.

In that universe a simple truth is denied.

64-year-old Stephen Paddock used a weapon of war to kill 59 people and injure 500 others on Sunday night.

But he wasn't on a field of battle, for three days he was ensconced in the corner suite on the 32nd floor of a hotel with 23 different firearms (including semi-auto and fully automatic rifles with scopes set up on tripods) and hundreds of rounds of ammunition - some of which he used to fire at innocent people attending a country music festival.

The current Republican-majority Congress, the legislative branch of the federal government empowered and tasked by the Constitution to draft laws on behalf of the American people, made it easier for that to happen.

As the editorial board of the New York Times wrote in a blistering, mostly visual op-ed yesterday:

"477 Days. 521 Mass Shootings. Zero Action From Congress."

If you haven't already seen it, click the link above and take a quick look at the calendars covering 2016 and 2017 with the days where at least one mass shooting took place in America marked off.

It borders on madness when you consider that the Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as "four or more people injured or killed in a single event at the same time and location."  

Paul Ryan, Speaker of Platitudes?

Millions of Americans and people from around the world are expressing outrage and complete bafflement that U.S. law allows individuals to purchase and own semi-automatic weapons that can easily be updated to fire fully-automatic for less than $100.

In response Republican Congressional leaders are doing what they usually do after innocent Americans lose their lives to senseless mass shootings.

Absolutely nothing.

As Rebecca Shabad reported for CBS News earlier today, after Republicans holed up in a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill, "Mr. Zero Action" himself, House Speaker Paul Ryan, emerged to take questions from the media.

When asked what Congress has done to help protect American people from the wave of mass shootings that have taken place across the U.S. during the time that Republicans have controlled the House, like a kid caught lying to the teacher about reading the homework assignment when he clearly hadn't, Ryan began pontificating about mental health reform.

"One of the things we've learned from these shootings is often underneath this is a diagnosis of mental illness."

It's remarkable that less than 48 hours after Stephen Paddock killed 59 and injured 500, these Republican right-wing nutjobs were able to offer a "diagnosis of mental illness" of a fairly wealthy guy with no criminal record without an investigation having been nearly completed.

Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock

Despite the fact that his own brother told reporters Paddock was a normal guy who enjoyed gambling, and even sent his mother cookies, and the New York Times reported that Paddock meticulously planned this heinous attack.

Right down to strategically placing video cameras at various places outside the hotel suite so he could observe anyone approaching the room picking a corner suite with a perfect sightline to the concert taking place in a field nearby.

Doesn't exactly sound like a raving maniac who bursts into work at lunch and starts shooting.

But I wouldn't exactly put a whole lot of faith in the piercing psychiatric insight of the Republican Congressional leadership.

After all these are the same clowns who still haven't been able to offer a "diagnosis of mental illness" of Donald Trump's crazy ass after 8 months of relentless chaos, rampant idiocy and stunning lack of major accomplishments in the White House.

Speaking of President Useless, his pointless comments in the wake of the shooting have been about as comforting as a crazed raccoon with rabies inside your sleeping bag.

His ordering flags flown at half-mast and trite "warm condolences" to the families of the 59 people killed is little more than pointless lip-service to the millions of people fed up with Republicans solemnly shaking their heads and offering their "thoughts and prayers" after innocent people get mowed down with guns and they do nothing about it.
 
Remember, Congressional Republicans cut government funding for research into gun violence - think about that - before the shooting on Sunday they were preparing to vote on the NRA-backed SHARE Act which would make it easier to transport silencers across state lines and not classify some armor-piercing rounds as armor piercing rounds.

El Presidente Loco in Puerto Rico

The White House response then veered into extra bizarre and tone-deaf mode.

Trump and his obstinate one-note White House press secretary Sarah Sanders both dutifully touted the GOP Party Line on Monday by politely hinting that they won't be doing dick about passing meaningful gun control.

Sanders had the gall to get teary-eyed.

Then Trump flew down to Puerto Rico where he made an even bigger ass of himself.

Seriously, what kind of incompetent brain-dead asshole flies down to a U.S. territory where 95% of the people still have no electricity, access to safe water or steady food supplies and says "You've thrown our budget a little out of whack. We've spent a lot of money on Puerto Rico."??

Then starts tossing rolls of paper towels to people like some inebriated dimwit fan with court-side seats lumbering onto the floor to shoot foul shots at the halftime of Knicks game.

The silence from the National Rifle Association after Sunday's mass shooting has been deafening -
there's been almost total radio silence on their normally active social media pages.

Remarkably, the same Website that touts the NRA as "Freedom's Safest Place" is apparently too chickenshit to open their mouths about the fact that a guy busted open a hotel window and started killing and injuring people with a machine gun.

But they've got the gall to have an article titled "Capital of Denial: How Much Longer Can D.C. Continue to Ignore the 2nd Amendment?"

James & Nelba Greene with a photo of their daughter 
Ana at a press conference in Sandy Hook, 2013

The NRA leadership occupies that same parallel universe where the Republican Congressional leadership lives.

Devoid of compassion, bereft of common sense, enraptured by the 2nd Amendment like it's a false god.

After James Eagan Holmes threw teargas canisters into a crowded movie theater in Aurora, Colorado and shot twelve people and injured 70 back on July 20, 2012, the Republican-majority Congress did nothing.

Five months later, after 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed his own mother then drove to nearby Sandy Hook Elementary and shot and killed 20 innocent six and seven year-old children and six adults on December 14, 2012 - the Republican-majority Congress did nothing.

Last year on June 12, 2016 after 29-year-old Omar Mateen shot and killed 49 people and wounded 58 at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida - once again, the Republican-majority Congress did nothing.

In fact, if you recall, three days after the Pulse shooting, outraged Democrat Senators including Connecticut's Chris Murphy took to the floor of the Senate to filibuster for 15 straight hours to express their outrage that Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wouldn't even allow gun control legislation to come to the floor for a vote.

Like thousands of Americans I stayed up watching the filibuster speeches on C-Span, I called Murphy's Senate office late that night to express my support - and I could hear the phones ringing off the hook.

It was a brief, shining moment of hope that was dimmed by a Republican Senate leadership that is content to ignore the will of the American people because of the millions of dollars of direct political contributions they get from the NRA, as well as the unchecked millions in dark PAC money the NRA is able to funnel to the GOP in exchange for their turning a blind eye to the epic of gun violence taking place across the U.S. 

Today is my birthday, and I hate to start off the month of October on such a somber note, but I'm pissed - and like a lot of Americans I'm tired of Republicans hiding from their responsibility to pass reasonable gun control measures to keep us safe.

In a week when the American people needed real leadership from the party that controls Congress and the White House, we got a big fat nothing from a bunch of do-nothing obstructionists content to dwell in a parallel universe.

A 'Seriously Sick Psyche': Trump's Self-Created Wars

Are North Koreans really threatened by Guam,
an island located 3,000 miles across the Pacific?

To paraphrase an observation I read on Twitter earlier this morning, say what you want about President Obama, no one ever lost sleep worrying about the possibility of war with North Korea.

Trump's erratic statements spooked U.S. financial markets this week even as the Wall Street Journal's Spencer Jakab insisted this morning that markets traditionally ignore North Korea's provocations.


But analysts Gareth Leather and Krystal Tan of the subscription-based independent economic research company Capital Economics warned of the dire global economic consequences of a military conflict on the Korean peninsula.

To say nothing of the impact on Korean civilians who would inevitably be caught in the crossfire, as well as the servicemen and women, on both sides, whose lives would be lost based on little more than empty hot-air rhetoric - and vague threats against Guam, an island located 3,000 miles away from Korea.

Why can't the erratic POTUS just let the North Korea-thing cool down to allow State Department officials, foreign affairs experts and our Asian allies in the region to use diplomacy and negotiation to calm tensions and forge international consensus on a resolution?

It's increasingly clear to most observers that Trump's belligerence, overreaction to North Korean rhetoric and unchecked Twitter attacks on his own allies are evidence of a man willing to do anything he can to distract attention from special counsel Robert Mueller's expanding investigation into Russia's interference into the 2016 presidential elections.

Just consider the past 48 hours; which includes Trump actually thanking Vladimir Putin for expelling hundreds of American diplomatic staff from Russia.

Yesterday Trump openly criticized Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the latest in a series of attacks this week, not only trying to blame the Republican-majority Senate for the fact that not one of Trump's major legislative policy initiatives has been passed - but also insinuating that McConnell should step down from his leadership position.

Mitch McConnell addressing a Rotary Club
meeting back in May

McConnell was back in his home state meeting with constituents at a local Rotary Club in Florence, Kentucky on Monday when he suggested that the stalled White House agenda is largely a result of Trump's own chaotic behavior and his total lack of understanding about how things work on Capitol Hill.

"Now our new president, has of course, not been in this line of work before and I think had unrealistic expectations about how quickly things happen in the democratic process. "

"So part of the reason I think people think we're underperforming is because too many kind of artificial deadlines unrelated to the reality of the complexity of legislating many not have been fully understood."

"May not have been fully understood" is an epic understatement where 45 is concerned.

Now I may not always agree with McConnell on policy issues or personal politics, but he's a man of decency and tact - and I think his comments about Trump were about as direct a rebuke to the White House from the Senate that we've seen in quite some time.

As Leigh Ann Caldwell and Andrew Rafferty reported earlier this afternoon for NBC News, some of the Republican Senate's heavy hitters all released statements of support for McConnell via Twitter, so there's little question McConnell's comments echo the feelings of the entire Senate chamber.

And not just current Republican senators either, former Senators have had enough as well.

This morning Vox.com reported that former New Hampshire Republican Senator Gordon Humphrey, who called Trump a "sociopath" in 2016, published an open letter on Thursday in which he implored New Hampshire congressional representatives to back legislation known as the Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity Act.

Former New Hampshire Senator Gordon Humphrey 

The act, known as H.R. 1987, was introduced in Congress back in April by Maryland Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin and has a number of prominent Democratic co-sponsors.  

It would establish a commission of 11 bi-partisan members of the House and Senate to determine if the president is mentally fit to carry out the duties of his office.

Humphrey tried to block Trump's presidential nomination in 2016.

As Vox reported, Humphrey also sent an open letter to the Concord Monitor in which he said, in part:

"Donald Trump is impaired by a seriously sick psyche. His sick mind and reckless conduct could consume the lives of millions...We cannot leave our national security and our families' safety in the hands of a president whose poor judgement, belligerence, vindictiveness and reckless impetuosity constitute an indictment of his mental health."

Listening to Trump's comments about McConnell and overheated rhetoric on North Korea this week has given even Trump supporters (like former House Speaker Newt Gingrich) pause to wonder about POTUS' mental stability.

Recent poll tracking data from RealClearPolitics shows that his approval rating continues to trend lower while his disapproval rating edges higher.

Former CNN commentator Jeffry Lord

And one of his most ardent mainstream media supporters, former CNN commentator (and resident Trump apologist) Jeffrey Lord was fired by the cable network on Thursday after using the words "Sieg Heil!" in a Twitter response to Media Matters president Angelo Carusone.

Words which normally accompany the Nazi salute and only give credence to allegations of links between white nationalists and Neo-Nazis and Trump supporters and advisers.

Unnamed sources within the White House claimed the FBI's unannounced pre-dawn raid of former Trump campaign official Paul Manafort's home back on July 26th seriously spooked Trump and his top advisors - and caught them off guard as the raids took place 24 hours after special counsel Robert Mueller issued a subpoena to force Manafort to testify under oath in the investigation into Russian interference and collusion.

Given that the North Koreans have been using overblown fiery rhetoric for years, Trump's decision to ratchet up the tension with his amateurish "Twitter diplomacy" is either a reflection of his inexperience with foreign policy and ignorance of the Korean conflict - or his inability to control himself.

Or, perhaps it's simply a reflection of his willingness to do anything, including starting a war with the media, his own political party, or a hostile foreign country, in order deflect attention from an independent investigation into whether he and his campaign staff knowingly colluded with Russia to alter the outcome of the elections that put him into office.

None of those options bodes well for the people of the United States, or the flailing Trump presidency; which increasingly seems like it dwells in some parallel reality.

No wonder he's still talking about Hillary Clinton's emails - he's' just waiting for something to stick to the wall.

The Manchurian Candidate's Ethical Dilemmas

In less than than two weeks the inauguration of the most unpopular presidential candidate in modern American history will take place outside the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building, and with it our nation is headed into uncharted waters.

The release of the declassified version of an intelligence report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence last Friday confirms that Russia, under the direction of Vladimir Putin, used targeted cyber attacks to intentionally smear the reputation of Hillary Clinton and the DNC.

But just about the only person in America who still denies that Russia interfered in the November 8th elections is the president-elect - the man who benefitted most from their meddling.

The anxiety surrounding the incoming PEOTUS isn't just based on his political inexperience, unpredictability and petty childish petulance.

It's the ease with which he lies, his penchant for distorting the truth to fit his own narrative and immediate needs, and the ongoing intentional deception about his personal finances.

His tangled web of business ties, including a staggering list of foreign entities including banks, companies and wealthy individuals whose financial interests will be directly influenced by the policy decisions he and his administration will soon make, is made even more problematic by the fact that he refuses to release his tax returns or make open disclosures about potential conflicts of interest.

Trump's incoming administration (contrary to his snarky campaign rhetoric) is replete with billionaires with murky financial backgrounds and hyper-conservative Republican Party insiders with radical social agendas who seem to have very little in common with the thousands of "Average Joe" Trump supporters who packed those rallies around the country last year.

Adding to the collective anxiety are growing concerns on Capitol Hill that the Republican-controlled Senate is pushing forward with confirmation hearings this week for some of Trump's cabinet picks even though exhaustive background checks are still incomplete.

Different standards for different nominees? McConnell

But missing disclosure information and incomplete financial background records aren't stopping Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

In an interview, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told MSNBC's Chris Hayes that the complex financial backgrounds of some of Trump's cabinet picks "cry out for hearings. Not six at once, two hours each and then we're finished. The American people demand to know who these people are."  

Interestingly, eight years ago McConnell was singing a much different tune about the "Constitutional duty" of the Senate "to provide its Advice and Consent on Presidential nominations" when President Obama's nominees were facing confirmation hearings.

As Josh Israel reported in an article posted on ThinkProgress.org on Sunday, in a remarkable display of overt partisan hypocrisy, a copy of a letter he wrote to the former Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid back on February 12, 2009 (click the link to read it) spells out a laundry list of standards to be met before Senate confirmation hearings for Obama's picks could take place.

The very first item on McConnell's list back then? "The FBI background check is complete and submitted to the committee for review and prior to a hearing being noticed."

I guess McConnell's strict adherence to "Constitutional duty" with regards to the Senate confirmation of cabinet picks depends on the party of the president-elect.

As Ed O'Keefe and Sean Sullivan reported in a Washington Post article on Saturday, ethics officials responsible for vetting the cabinet picks have warned that government staff who handle the background checks are finding themselves overwhelmed due in large part to the fact that the incoming Trump administration bucked tradition by appointing individuals without having done extensive inside pre-vetting of their cabinet picks - as is the normal practice of incoming presidential administrations.

AG nominee & civil rights opponent Jeff Sessions

Regardless, what are sure to be contentious televised confirmation hearings will begin on Tuesday morning with the controversial pick for Attorney General, Republican Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions facing two days of questioning.

Sessions faces a rough week as accusations that he used disparaging remarks (including the n-word and "boy") about African-Americans in the past are sure to come up.


Those same accusations sank his nomination to be a federal judge back in 1986 when he faced a bruising hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee when he was the then-Alabama attorney general.

Just last week members of the NAACP, including organization president Cornell Brooks, were arrested for staging a peaceful sit-in protest in the Senator's offices in Mobile, Alabama to express their opposition to Session's being nominated as the highest ranking official in charge of enforcing civil rights and voting laws at a time when the Department of Justice plays such a critical role in investigating the epidemic of unjustified shootings of innocent and unarmed persons of color by police around the nation.

Justice reform advocates, human rights lawyers, activists, politicians on both sides of the aisle and concerned citizens have all expressed concerns that Sessions being nominated as the AG could set back efforts to begin to dismantle mass incarceration and reform the U.S. prison system.

Jared Kushner confers with anti-Semite Trump advisor
Steve Bannon after exiting the PEOTUS plane

But to get back to the aforementioned PEOTUS, while Trump's cartoonish praise of Putin (whom former CIA field officer Bob Baer called one of the most corrupt leaders on the globe during an interview segment on The Brian Leher Show this morning) paints the former reality TV star as something of a foreign policy simpleton in the eyes of many, it's his Byzantine maze of relationships that's most troubling.

Nowhere are those complex business ties more apparent than in Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.


The wealthy scion of a family that owns a vast real estate business, Kushner is said to be one of the closest advisers to the new PEOTUS, but his complicated and not always transparent business ties represent a huge ethical dilemma for the incoming administration - especially after Trump announced plans to tap him as a senior White House advisor.

If you haven't already read it, I highly recommend taking a few minutes to read the article by Susanne Craig, Jo Becker and Jesse Drucker published in Saturday's New York Times that offers a piercing and troubling overview not just of Kushner's pursuit of a real estate development deal with the head of shadowy Chinese insurance behemoth Anbang Insurance Group.

But also the web-like network of business ties the Kushner family's real estate company has established in order to solve massive debt issues accrued as a result of a multi-state buying spree of buildings and properties that expanded the family's holdings but leveraged the company to the hilt.

"Nothing to see hear folks!" Reince Priebus

Kushner advising Trump on U.S. policies that could affect any number of the Kushner family's global business dealings potentially represents yet another dicey ethics issue for an administration already under fire for it's stubborn refusal to acknowledge the findings of U.S. intelligence officials that Putin ordered Russia to interfere with American elections to intentionally sway the outcome in Trump's favor.

Incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus even had the gall to blame the DNC for lax Internet security that allowed Russian hackers to infiltrate its Website during an interview with Chris Wallace on Fox News.

The 1962 film The Manchurian Candidate, based on the 1959 novel by Richard Condon, centers on the scion of a wealthy conservative American family who is brainwashed by the Soviets as part of a secret Communist plot before going on to a political career.

That Oscar-nominated film starring Frank Sinatra, Lawrence Harvey, Janet Leigh and Angela Landsbury is pretty strange.

Now I don't know about the rumors that the Russians have something damaging on Trump which is allegedly why he acts like an enamored school girl with a crush anytime he mentions Putin.

But his Twitter man-crush on the Russian president is pretty weird.

I don't know if Trump's praise for the Motherland is related to reasons that are financial, political, or both; but regardless, in this case it seems as if truth really is much stranger than fiction.